Shirley Pipkin Carter August 30, 1939 ~ June 10, 2022

Enormously beloved by family and many friends, Shirley Pipkin Carter passed away very peacefully on June 10, 2022 at the Four Corners Regional Care Center in Blanding, where she had been a resident since February 2022.
Shirley was born on August 30, 1939 to James “Jim” Pipkin and Catherine “Katie” Winters Pipkin at Cedar Point, UT, without benefit of a doctor.
The Pipkin family moved to Monticello when Shirley was very young, and that’s where she grew up with her two younger brothers, several cousins and lifelong friends. She was a member of the 23-person Class of 1957 at Monticello High School.
Shirley was an independent woman before her time. She was a single mother for nearly seven years. She supported her children with two part-time jobs: waitressing and as a phone operator for night shift when her roommate could tend the two children.
Shirley also raced stock cars on a dirt track more than occasionally. This was definitely not the norm in the late ’50s and early ’60s in southeast Utah.
It was more than a hobby; she was a very good racer, and there was often prize money to extend the small family budget.
Shirley married Charles “Lynn” Carter, Jr. on November 15, 1966. They had their youngest child together in August 1970. Her obstetrician, also ahead of his time, insisted that Lynn be in the delivery room.
Shirley was a stay-at-home Mom for about three years. It took several years, but Lynn adopted her two older children. Shirley returned to waitressing in Moab in 1973 until the family moved to a Denver suburb in 1976.
Shirley was a “bookworm” from a young age. Sometimes she got in trouble for hiding to read a book rather than doing her chores.
As a child she was very much a tomboy. She loved to dance and bowling was a favorite pastime.
Shirley was a terrific dancer and bowler. At one point while living in Moab, she was on two or three ladies bowling leagues and a mixed league weekly, and was elected Secretary for most of them.
She and her husband went dancing often until her knee replacement in 2011. She took up golf in Thornton, CO in 1977 and enjoyed it a great deal.
Shirley, her husband Lynn, and their daughter Wendy, moved to Cascade, ID in 1984.
She began working as a part-time clerk at the Valley County Treasurer’s office and retired as the county Chief Deputy Treasurer.
Shortly after her retirement, Shirley and Lynn moved back to Moab in 2001.
Shirley is predeceased by her parents, husband and partner of 55 years Charles “Lynn” Carter, Jr., brother James “Larry” Pipkin, daughter Wendy Carter Daniels and son Billy Ray Carter.
She is survived by her brother Fritz (Barbara) Pipkin Sr., sisters Patricia “Patty” (Louis-deceased) Stevens, Donna (Charles-deceased) Tookey, Elaine (Dwane-deceased) Gilliland, Vicki (James) Morris, Lynne (William) Peck, Jean (Clay) Willis-Brown, brothers Larry and Robert Willis, daughter Jodie Carter (Steve) Peltz, granddaughters Catherine “Katie” (Brian) Carter and Kerri (Brandon) Kirk, grandson Eric Peltz, five great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
At Shirley’s request, cremation has taken place and a graveside service will be held Thursday June 23, 2022 at 11 a.m. at the Monticello City Cemetery.
The family appreciates flowers or donations to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://atc.alz.org/donate), but the graveside attendance or thoughts of Shirley by family and friends is all that is requested.
Special thanks to Moab Community Nursing Services, Four Corners Regional Care Center and Zions Way Hospice of Blanding, and all those who visited Shirley in the last four months.
You may send condolences to the family at www.SpanishValleyMortuary.com or www.svmc.us .

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